A musical answer

A Mutual Question has opted for a heavier sound. Pic/Abhishek Gupta

It often happens that a band's sound undergoes a shift in gears when a member leaves and a new one joins. That's what unravelled when Naman Sachdev sat behind the drums for Mumbai prog-rock act A Mutual Question for the first time in 2016. The outfit had focused on a more ambient sonic template till then. But with Sachdev's background in metal music, they decided to up the tempo with tunes that were heavier than before.

That reflects in Connect, their latest album that released last week. It's not that the seven-track offering doesn't have its mellower moments. But guitarist Siddharth Chopra tells us, "We were keen to add an upbeat note to our live songs since we realised that we enjoy playing the heavier tracks more than the laidback ones. We wanted to try out complicated things, and stick to time signatures that were off instead of the usual 4/4 structure."

That sense of experimentation is clearly evident in tracks like Tranquil, as is the touch of metal that Sachdev's fiery drums bring. But sometimes, the messaging that a musical album conveys is as important as the melody, and as Chopra tells us, in the case of Connect it is this: "We need to have more love and empathy for people around, especially with all that's happening in the world right now in the name of religion. But if you think about it, it's not religion that is causing these problems. It's hate, because if you truly loved someone, you wouldn't care about what their religion is."

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